By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Wichita Southeast entered the Topeka Invitational Tournament with a 2-5 record and left as the tournament champion.
The 5-5 Buffaloes rode a hot first half to their third straight victory in Saturday's tournament final, building a 17-point halftime advantage over Lansing and holding off the 7-3 Lions down the stretch.
Lansing, coached by former Highland Park coach Jason Jones, rallied after the break, getting back in the hunt with a 16-9 third quarter.
The Lions gave themselves to pull out the win with 23 points in the fourth quarter, but Southeast hit 14 of 19 free throws overall in the final period to hang on.
Seniors Wesley Adkins and Andrew Bikar scored 18 points to Wichita Southeast, while sophomore Kobe Smith added 13.
Lansing was led by Peyton Basler, who scored a game-high 25 points
WICHITA EAST 56, SHAWNEE MISSION NORTH 53
Senior AJ King scored 19 points and seniors Daylan Jones and Braxton White added 11 points apiece to lead Wichita East (7-4) to a third-place tournament finish.
The Blue Aces trailed 28-25 at halftime, but outscored North 18-11 in the third quarter and 31-25 in the second half.
Junior James Shepherd led Wichita North with 28 points.
Championship
WICHITA SOUTHEAST 67, LANSING 63
Lansing 12 12 16 23 -- 63
Wichita Southeast 20 21 9 17 -- 67
Lansing (7-3) -- Jackson 1 6-9 8, Basler 9 2-2 25, Benson 4 1-2 9, Allen 0 0-2 0, Remington 2 0-0 4, Crawford 2 1-4 5, Patrick 0 3-4 3, Couch 3 0-0 9. Totals 21 13-23 63.
Wichita Southeast (5-5) -- K. Smith 3 5-7 13, Barnes 0 2-4 2, Adkins 3 12-15 18, Pottard 4 0-2 9, Bikar 7 2-6 18, Wilson 2 3-4 7, Williams 0 0-0 0, Sumpter 0 0-0 0, Carter 0 0-0 0, Walker 0 0-0 0, Bean 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 24-38 67.
3-point goals -- Lansing 8 (Basler 5, Couch 3); Southeast 5 ( K. Smith 2, Bikar 2, Pottard). Total fouls -- Lansing 27, Southeast 23. Fouled out — Basler, Benson, Remington, K. Smith, Wilson.
Third place
WICHITA EAST 56, SHAWNEE MISSION NORTH 53
Wichita East 11 14 18 13 -- 56
SM North 16 12 11 14 -- 53
Wichita East (7-4) -- King 6 7-8 19, Jones 3 2-2 11, Sweeney 3 1-4 7, Trezvant 0 0-0 0, White 4 3-4 11, Manuel 1 0-0 2, Dunn-Morse 1 0-0 3, Kaufman 1 0-0 3, Jeannoel 0 0-0 0, Graham 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 13-18 56.
Shawnee Mission North (2-9) — Hines 1 2-4 4, Shepard 9 4-7 28, Manning 2 0-0 4, Oberle 1 4-6 6, Cole 1 4-4 6, Macan 0 0-0 0, Murphy 1 1-2 3, Salvino 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 15-23 53.
3-point goals — East 5 (Jones 3, Dunn-Morse, Kaufman); North 6 (Shepherd 6). Total fouls — East 18, North 16. Fouled out — none.
